Misc Is Clonidine withdrawal dangerous?

[Bomb319]

I had an Rx for it with the instructions to take 2 two times a day. It often wasn't very effective, so I often took 5-6 in a day (0.1 mg) instead. Obviously, this led to my running out of it several days early, and I've had no choice to just cold turkey it, not thinking it would be a big deal because it's so commonly prescribed and I wasn't warned about anything.

Yet I've read online (reputable medical sites) that being a blood-pressure med, withdrawal causes rebound hypertension. In some cases, it caused heart attacks, strokes and other cardiovascular problems upon abrupt withdrawal. Of course it's a bad idea to look up medical info online, but I was wondering just how potentially dangerous it may be. Is it to the point where I as a 31 year old and relatively healthy, need to worry? Or is it mainly just a precaution meant primarily for those who already have or have had cardio problems or older people? If anyone knows, I'd appreciate it.

EDIT: I forgot to mention that it's a bit concerning because I have had some VERY stressful events in the past few days as well, in addition to having pretty severe insomnia with only 2 hours sleep last night. I've also gained a lot of weight since being on methadone, and have a history of migraines with aura. By the way, my doctor gave me Clonidine despite being of methadone because I'm a very fast metabolizer, on a high dose, and therefore can often start feeling withdrawal sickness by the next morning before my next dose. It's not psychological either, as my pupils become laughably huge, and I actually begin sneezing fits, which historically I never had until day 3 or 4 of heroin/oxy/dilaudid withdrawal.With a certain and sufficient level of opiates in my system, I'm physically unable to yawn or sneeze no matter what I do.

 

[Keif' Richards]

There shouldn't be any serious problems in discontinuing clonidine at the dosages you're using. You're correct that the primary effects of abrupt discontinuation are rebound hypertension. As a matter of fact, I was out of town for a few weeks just recently and had issues getting my clonidine filled. I've been taking it for about two years and was at one point taking .2 PO 3x daily but am currently on the same dose twice per day. I wasn't expecting the abrupt cessation so didn't ration or make any plans to conserve. It's not the first time that this has happened either. The primary effects are that of hypertension in general, palpitation (awareness of heart beat) and what feels like my heart pounding especially hard. The unfortunate thing is that this sort of thing contributes negatively to my already moderate anxiety issues as it's quite hard to ignore.

Also, partially because of the withdrawal and partially because I take one dose every night before bed-time, I found it very hard to get to sleep and spent most of the night tossing. So in short, the withdrawal from clonidine was never severe in any way for me, it was just uncomfortable for two days with the discomfort beginning to wane on the 3rd day. You shouldn't have any serious problems though, especially if you don't normally suffer from hypertension. But, as a general rule, you're supposed to be tapered off of drugs like clonidine due to all of the previously mentioned issues you can experiencer.

Can I ask for how long you've been taking clonidine on a regular basis? Like everything else, this is going to be a big factor in how severe the withdrawal symptoms are going to be.